What is the Lord’s Prayer?
Faith Foundations (NCC) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewThis week, we take a look at question forty-one from the New City Catechism.
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Q: What is the Lord’s Prayer?
A: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
(Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
What deep mysteries are contained in the Lord’s Prayer. How many and great they are! They are expressed in a few words, but they are rich in spiritual power so that nothing is left out; every petition and prayer we have to make is included. It is a compendium of heavenly doctrine.
Cyprian of Carthage
UNDERSTANDING THE PRAYER
UNDERSTANDING THE PRAYER
The who of the prayer:
The who of the prayer:
Jesus’ prayer reveals what we are like.
Jesus’ prayer reveals what we are like.
The temptations we face in prayer:
We are tempted toward hypocrisy in prayer. (Pretending and preforming for other people.)
We are tempted toward prosperity in prayer. (Believing that our “outer-person” needs are the reward of prayer.)
The truth of our position:
We are focused on ourselves.
We are in need of provision for our bodies and our souls (bread & forgiveness).
We are slow to understand God’s grace. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Jesus’ prayer reveals what God is like.
Jesus’ prayer reveals what God is like.
Our Father delights in rewarding his children.
Our Father knows all that we need.
Our Father has the power to deliver what we need most.
[The Lord’s Prayer] is truly the summary of the whole gospel.
Tertullian
The what of the prayer:
The what of the prayer:
Praise
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Pray to God who is above us.
Pray that his name would get the recognition and applause it deserves.
Providence
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Pray that God’s kingdom way would be recognized and embraced now and forever.
Provision
“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Pray that God will meet your basic physical needs.
Pray that God will meet your deepest spiritual need. (Forgiveness & reconciliation).
Protection
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Pray that God will keep you from an enemy who is against you. (Ephesians 6:12)
The why of the prayer:
The why of the prayer:
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
We go to God in prayer confident in his desire to meet our needs by giving us himself.
EMBRACING THE PRAYER
EMBRACING THE PRAYER
Evaluate your prayer life based on Jesus’ prayer.
Evaluate your prayer life based on Jesus’ prayer.
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
Consider the WHO, WHAT, and WHY.
Who are you trying to be? Who do you believe God to be?
What are you praying for God to do? Why are you praying for him to do it? (What do your petitions reveal about your understanding of God’s role in your life?)
The Lord’s Prayer is the most perfect of prayers … In it we ask, not only for the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer teaches us not only to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Elevate your understanding of God’s care.
Elevate your understanding of God’s care.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Exercise your faith in Christ by prayer.
Exercise your faith in Christ by prayer.
In a sense, learning to follow Jesus is simply learning to pray the Lord’s Prayer.
N. T. Wright
The goal of prayer is the ear of God.
Charles Spurgeon
